There Will Be Sorrow

Michael Austin has a new book about the Book of Job coming out from Greg Kofford Books.

I love the Book of Job. It is by far one of the best reads in scripture. It is also one of the most theologically and philosophically rich books in all of the Christian scripture.

I came to a greater appreciation for the Book of Job after reading The Oresteia by Aeschylus in a graduate seminar on ancient political thought. In particular, both The Oresteia and the Book of Job have a chorus. In The Oresteia, the chorus is made up of furies. In Job, the chorus is his friends. This literary device sets Job apart from much of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. This is something that we can only get reading the entire book of Job. It does not come from following the Sunday School manual.

We prooftext Job, but we do not read Job. I am excited to take a closer look at Austin’s examination of Job.

The story of Job understood as a symbolic tragedy is a powerful one that both religious and secular thinkers have grappled with.